San José Mayor Announces Success of Quick-Build Communities as Homelessness Drops
Annual Point-in-Time (PIT) Count displays a meaningful reduction in unsheltered homelessness for the second year in a row
Media Contact:
Tasha Dean, Chief Communications Officer, Office of Mayor Matt Mahan, [email protected]
SAN JOSÉ, CA - Today, San José Mayor Matt Mahan will join Councilmember Pam Foley (D9), LifeMoves, and formerly unhoused individuals to reveal encouraging new data from the most recent Santa Clara County Point-in-Time (PIT) Count. The PIT count marks a 10.7% reduction in unsheltered homelessness and a 4.7% reduction in overall homelessness in the City of San José from 2022 to 2023. This is the second year in a row that homelessness has been reduced after almost a decade of climbing rates. These reductions correspond to the city’s Emergency Interim Housing or Quick-Build Communities coming online.
The Point-in-Time (PIT) count is a tally of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires Continuums of Care to conduct an annual count of people experiencing homelessness – those sheltered in emergency shelter, transitional housing, and Safe Havens and those sleeping outdoors on a single night. The count provides data used for federal funding allocations and national estimates of homelessness. While the data captured is a snapshot of the wider homelessness crisis, the demonstrable progress reflects San José’s increased investments into quick-build developments, the fastest and most cost-effective means of providing housing to homeless residents.
“This data proves that changing status quo policies can change our results for the better,” said San José Mayor Matt Mahan. “These numbers show for the second year in a row that our increased investments in quick-build communities are working. It’s long past time to put more dollars toward housing-now solutions that move people from our streets and creeks into safe, dignified housing faster and more cost-effectively than what we’ve been doing.”
The data being released today is considered preliminary; data for other cities within Santa Clara County and the full report are currently being analyzed and will be released later this year.
Preliminary data from the 2022 Point-in-Time Count for San José
Further data on the PIT count will be released on the county website and can be found here.
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About the City of San José
With nearly one million residents, San Jose is the largest city in the Bay Area and one of the nation's most diverse and creative. San José’s transformation into a global innovation center in the heart of Silicon Valley has resulted in the world's greatest concentration of technology talent and development.